Oven-Delicious Empanadas
Jun. 14th, 2010 12:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silvercaladan in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omnomnom Alright, I love to cook, but as an engineering student, I don't have much time. Therefore, I'm a major fan of inventing new ways to combine pre-made and fresh ingredients with minimal cooking times.
Today's theme is the empanada!
These tasty treats leave a lot of room for variation, if you read the link above. The recipe below is intended to make large, stuffed empanadas with well-rounded contents suitable for feeding active teenage boys, like the ones I live with.
1 package refrigerated pizza dough
Some flour
Olive Oil
1 can of black refried beans
Meat of choice (ground beef or chicken strips or beef strips recommended)
Cheese
Onion - Bell Peppers - Other Random Veggies
Extraneous: Salsa, Jalapenos
Measurements are not given because this strongly depends on how stuffed or how large you want the empanadas to be. Eyeball it; if you cut up too many veggies, they'll keep in the fridge for a bit. If you cook too much meat, it'll keep in the fridge for a while too. You can also do it without many of the above ingredients; empanadas often just have cheese and beans, or really whatever you want.
Be sure to cook the meat beforehand; not completely, but browned definitely. You don't want the meat to overcook in the oven, but you don't want to burn everything else trying to cook the meat so you won't die. Just toss it in a pan and brown it for a few minutes.
While you're doing this, turn the oven on to 400 degrees.
Now, to work with the refrigerated pizza dough, rub flour over your stretching surface and your hands. The flour will keep the dough from sticking, so you might want to keep the bag/jar around for easy access. I'm lazy, so I use my counter and just stretch the dough out in a circular shape with my hands. A rolling pin would totally be easier, but I don't have one. A clean drinking cup can perform the same function, if you're feeling creative. Meh, as long as you can make flat circular shapes with the dough, you're fine. I make mine about the size of my hand, but be careful that it doesn't get thin! Remember you'll be stuffing this dough with lotsa food.
Smear one half of the dough with the refried black beans (mmm delicious), toss in some of the browned meat, some veggies, cheese, and whatever else you feel like adding. Hot sauce, peppers, celery, whatever! I wouldn't add lettuce, though, it doesn't cook well.
Now, fold the other half of the dough over the top of all the stuff you just added. Try to make sure none of the food pokes holes through the dough, as then it'll burn a bit. Pinch the edges together, creating a huge half-moon enclosed dough thing of awesome. Now, coat both sides of the dough thing with olive oil gently; this will turn the dough a delicious golden color once it's cooked.
The easy part is next! Toss those suckers in the oven, and bake them for 15-20 minutes, or until they're that pretty golden color I mentioned earlier.
Now, toss on plate, add sour cream or more salsa, or more cheese, and stuff yourself. I like to make mine about half the size of plates so that one constitutes an entire meal.
Enjoy! <3
Today's theme is the empanada!
These tasty treats leave a lot of room for variation, if you read the link above. The recipe below is intended to make large, stuffed empanadas with well-rounded contents suitable for feeding active teenage boys, like the ones I live with.
1 package refrigerated pizza dough
Some flour
Olive Oil
1 can of black refried beans
Meat of choice (ground beef or chicken strips or beef strips recommended)
Cheese
Onion - Bell Peppers - Other Random Veggies
Extraneous: Salsa, Jalapenos
Measurements are not given because this strongly depends on how stuffed or how large you want the empanadas to be. Eyeball it; if you cut up too many veggies, they'll keep in the fridge for a bit. If you cook too much meat, it'll keep in the fridge for a while too. You can also do it without many of the above ingredients; empanadas often just have cheese and beans, or really whatever you want.
Be sure to cook the meat beforehand; not completely, but browned definitely. You don't want the meat to overcook in the oven, but you don't want to burn everything else trying to cook the meat so you won't die. Just toss it in a pan and brown it for a few minutes.
While you're doing this, turn the oven on to 400 degrees.
Now, to work with the refrigerated pizza dough, rub flour over your stretching surface and your hands. The flour will keep the dough from sticking, so you might want to keep the bag/jar around for easy access. I'm lazy, so I use my counter and just stretch the dough out in a circular shape with my hands. A rolling pin would totally be easier, but I don't have one. A clean drinking cup can perform the same function, if you're feeling creative. Meh, as long as you can make flat circular shapes with the dough, you're fine. I make mine about the size of my hand, but be careful that it doesn't get thin! Remember you'll be stuffing this dough with lotsa food.
Smear one half of the dough with the refried black beans (mmm delicious), toss in some of the browned meat, some veggies, cheese, and whatever else you feel like adding. Hot sauce, peppers, celery, whatever! I wouldn't add lettuce, though, it doesn't cook well.
Now, fold the other half of the dough over the top of all the stuff you just added. Try to make sure none of the food pokes holes through the dough, as then it'll burn a bit. Pinch the edges together, creating a huge half-moon enclosed dough thing of awesome. Now, coat both sides of the dough thing with olive oil gently; this will turn the dough a delicious golden color once it's cooked.
The easy part is next! Toss those suckers in the oven, and bake them for 15-20 minutes, or until they're that pretty golden color I mentioned earlier.
Now, toss on plate, add sour cream or more salsa, or more cheese, and stuff yourself. I like to make mine about half the size of plates so that one constitutes an entire meal.
Enjoy! <3
no subject
on 2010-06-15 12:32 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2010-06-16 03:18 pm (UTC)